"Killing An Arab" by The Cure was inspired by Albert Camus' book The Stranger.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent. The word doesn't show up in the lyric; lead singer Johnny Rzeznik said he was "trying to be pretentious and arty by calling it that."
Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" is based on the book of the same name by William Burroughs.
Jimmy Webb was inspired to write The 5th Dimension song "Up-Up and Away" after seeing a hot-air balloon his friend flew on promotions for the Southern California radio station KMEN.
The video for Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" pays homage to the classic 1995 film Clueless with the rapper playing Cher and featured singer Charli XCX portraying Tai. It was filmed at some of the same locations used in the movie.
The Isley Brothers became the first group to score a Top 50 hit in six consecutive decades when their song "Contagious" peaked at #19 in 2001. Their first entry was their song "Shout" in 1959.
Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.
The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."
The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.
The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
The Christian rapper talks about where his trip to Haiti and his history of addiction fit into his songs.
Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.